Archbishop criticizes Pakistan's religious 'intolerance and violence'

Published: 2006-10-09

DENVER (CNS) -- Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf calls on others not to discriminate against Muslims, but he discriminates against non-Muslims in his own country, said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver. The archbishop, a member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, co-wrote an opinion piece in The Denver Post with the commission's vice chairwoman, Elizabeth H. Prodromou, after Musharraf delivered a speech at the United Nations calling for "enlightened moderation" to bridge a growing divide between Islamic and Western governments. In the Sept. 19 speech Musharraf said that to build such bridges "it is imperative to end racial and religious discrimination against Muslims and to prohibit the defamation of Islam." The president's "action plan suggests it is Western countries that must change their behavior toward Muslims, and not the other way around," Archbishop Chaput and Prodromou wrote in the Sept. 28 issue of the Post. "Musharraf fails to address the urgent need to bring 'enlightened moderation' to his own country, where intolerance and violence is aimed at both Muslims and non-Muslims," they said.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .